In the US, most of us have had a basic introduction to a language other than English. However, the lack of emphasis on knowing another language in the US makes it easy to forget everything you may have learned. Many other countries actually require a foreign language by the age of nine, while the US typically starts teaching another language at a later age than this. I doubt there will be any radical changes in the near future to the US’ ideas about language or its school curriculum, but what’s stopping everyone from taking matters into their own hands and teaching themselves? It’s no easy feat, however, after reading these tips, you may be inspired to download Duolingo or start watching some telenovelas.
1. There is a whole new world of job opportunities.
In an increasingly global world, a lot of employers are looking for candidates that can speak more than solely English. In a report from the New American Economy, the number of job advertisements for bilingual workers doubled between 2010 and 2015. If you’re looking to advance your career, the most “useful” languages are Chinese, Spanish, and Arabic; the New American Economy reports a 400 percent increase for Chinese language job openings and a 150 percent increase for Spanish and Arabic.
2. It’s an excuse to travel.While you don’t need to know another language to travel, it can be a great excuse to go somewhere. The best way to learn a language is by immersing yourself completely (aka going to a place that speaks that language.) Say you’ve always wanted to go to Paris — set this as your goal and use language learning as a means to complete that goal.
3. Learning a language is like an exercise for your brain.
Some people believe that learning a language can help improve some brain functions such as your memory. While this is debated, it’s definitely true that learning a language will put your brain to work. Language acquisition is no easy task, and it requires both effort and time. Whether or not it’s true that your memory will improve, learning a language is an activity that is like exercise for your brain!
4. You can increase empathy and understanding.
Learning a language isn’t only about the language. For my Spanish major, most of my classes focus on learning about history and culture. In order to understand a language, you really need to understand the people too. Even in my class about medical terminology, there are cultural themes sprinkled in. If you want to be a bilingual doctor, you need to be empathetic and understand where your patients are coming from.
5. You actually improve your first language.
This may seem contradictory, but I’ve found it to be particularly true. With your first language, you learn fairly informally. In a conversation, have you ever thought about verb tenses or the order of words in your sentences? When you learn a new language in a class setting, there’s a strong focus on grammar at first. As you’re teaching yourself new grammar, you’re suddenly hyper-aware of similarities and differences between languages. For example, in Spanish, the adjective typically comes after the noun, while in English it’s the opposite. Little differences like that make you think critically about your own language and therefore improve your knowledge of both languages.
6. You have more access to cool things and people!
With the knowledge of another language, you’re opening yourself up to all sorts of new things. From songs and movies to memes, you’ll find there is a new world of content out there. Additionally, there is the obvious advantage of meeting a lot of cool, new people.
You’re never too old to try something new — and why not make it learning a language? As someone who’s already learned Spanish, I do admit I have an advantage, and it’s easy to tell people to just go for it. However, I understand that learning a language does take a lot of work, but for the reasons above, I think it’s obvious it’s worth a shot. Even if you only learn the basics, that’s better than nothing! People will appreciate your efforts and over time, you’ll be happy with what you’ve accomplished.